[tim60]

I have frequently been required to show my passport for various reasons, mainly hotels, but also to buy local SIM cards, and several times to get payment for work done, and a copy was made. Once I needed to hand it over and get it back when I left the building, at a foreign government office.


Once, in Thailand, I was staying over my birthday, so the hotel provided a birthday cake in my room. At least they did something useful with seeing my passport. The news that night was very bad, and the next evening, when I went to Singapore, as a result of that news, the Singapore airport required all ARRIVING passengers from other countries to go through security scanning where normally they scan you through security AT the gate as the way to get into the lounge for your particular flight gate. (The system in Changi copied Amsterdam.)

[Andrew_Oid]

Is that a month without your passport while in a foreign country while you wait for the office to check it is real and make your new one? Scary. How would you prove you were legally there?

The consulate took my application, checked that I didn't owe the IRS or child support, and gave me back my current passport. When I go to pick the new one up up, they'll cancel the old one and return it to me. I thought I might have trouble because my visa has expired, but that's another story. My current passport is good till July.
I'm wondering if the government shutdown will delay the processing of the new passport.

---------- Post added 01-29-19 at 05:55 AM ----------

Never knew hamsters were an item of diet unless maybe in China. This shot reminds me of some of the dog dishes I was served in China back in the 1980s.

I believe they've been eating these things from Incan or even pre-Incan times. I don't know why. They can be raised in a small space, but they provide VERY little meat that's not very flavorful and in a restaurant they're expensive. This is pretty interesting: [http://foodinmyface.blogspot.com/2011/01/cui.html] .

[Neuse River Sailor]

The guinea pig is a domesticated rodent native to the Andean mountains of South America. The indigenous people have bred and raised them for thousands of years as a food source. As a meat source, I'm sure they provide just as much meat and are just as flavorful as squirrels, which people eat in my part of the country (don't worry, Otis, we are not going to eat you).

Guinea pig - Wikipedia

I had a pet guinea pig as a child. It was fairly affectionate but not very entertaining. It met an untimely demise when I accidentally left a power cord outside its cage and it poked it's head out and gnawed through the cord. It was instantly electrocuted. We didn't even consider eating it. I buried it in the back yard.

How about a Takumar picture? Fujifilm X-T20, SMC Takumar 105mm f/2.8 at f/8, 1/750s, ISO 400.

[ivanvernon]

The guinea pig is a domesticated rodent native to the Andean mountains of South America. The indigenous people have bred and raised them for thousands of years as a food source. As a meat source, I'm sure they provide just as much meat and are just as flavorful as squirrels, which people eat in my part of the country (don't worry, Otis, we are not going to eat you).

Guinea pig - Wikipedia

I had a pet guinea pig as a child. It was fairly affectionate but not very entertaining. It met an untimely demise when I accidentally left a power cord outside its cage and it poked it's head out and gnawed through the cord. It was instantly electrocuted. We didn't even consider eating it. I buried it in the back yard.

How about a Takumar picture? Fujifilm X-T20, SMC Takumar 105mm f/2.8 at f/8, 1/750s, ISO 400.

Nice train shot, and great information on guinea pigs. It is wonderful how Pentax Forum is expanding my knowledge base in so many different directions. :>)

[paulh]

December day at the ponds - S-M-C Tak 20/4.5 on *ist D:

[MJSteele]

Tak 105 2.8

[rayallen]

December day at the ponds - S-M-C Tak 20/4.5 on *ist D:

I love the serenity of this shot, Paul. I keep coming back to it.

[paulh]

I love the serenity of this shot, Paul. I keep coming back to it.

Many thanks, Ray. IIRC it was a weekday, and I didn't see a soul around. So yes, quite serene

[pepperberry farm]

[Minimonster]

Snowy twig. K3 with Auto-Takumar 55/2.2 straight out of camera.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Launceston Castle in the snow with the 17mm. I originally edited this in B&W because there was so little colour in the actual scene, but in hindsight I think this high key colour version gives a better sense of what it was actually like.

[Andrew_Oid]

I decided to put the 55 f2 lens on the camera. When I start to use a lens I haven't used in awhile, I like to look at the reviews again, especially the Pentaxforums lens reviews. While doing this, I found this other review which I'm sure will be of interest to members of the Takumar club. Asahi Super Takumar 55mm f/2.0 M42 Vintage Lens Review Wouldn't it be great if someone could and would benchtest all the Taks like this?

[ivanvernon]

I decided to put the 55 f2 lens on the camera. When I start to use a lens I haven't used in awhile, I like to look at the reviews again, especially the Pentaxforums lens reviews. While doing this, I found this other review which I'm sure will be of interest to members of the Takumar club. Asahi Super Takumar 55mm f/2.0 M42 Vintage Lens Review Wouldn't it be great if someone could and would benchtest all the Taks like this?

Thanks for the review . . . good reminder to try out mine soon!

[paulh]

I have the 55/1.8 SMC Tak, and concur - it's a brilliant lens and huge bang for the buck

From Dec. 2017 and finally processed - S-M-C Tak 20/4.5 on *ist D:

[Andrew_Oid]

It's the rainy season and rather dreary, but . . .
(I'm struck by the intense vermilion coloring of some of the roses here.)
Shot at f2.